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Linguistics is no less concentrated on its own navel than any other discipline, so it can be difficult to see what is outstanding about it compared to other disciplines (other than, of course, it studies the most fascinating subject in the world).

What linguistics has got, in addition to a brain, a heart and the nerve, is the LinguistList. I see a fair amount of other disciplines in my publishing work, but there is no other that has a discipline-wide, not-for-profit informational service like LinguistList. Some disciplines don't do it all, some others have an organization like a major publisher supply the portal, but only linguistics has this amazing resource for linking everyone in the discipline in a central, elegant, quite wonderfully done clearing-house for all things linguistic.

The difficult part, however, is not fervor, expertise or enthusiasm, it's that non-for-profit thingy. They can't sell stuff to keep the enterprise going. They need your money freely and willingly given.